What are the Modern day Mesopotamia Countries New Articles What are the Modern Mesopotamia Countries Modern Mesopotamia is the country now known as Iraq. The region, which once heralded the birth of a very rich civilization, contributed much to the world. It is now a place ravaged by warfare for the last decade. The place formed the cradle of the Assyrian, Babylonian and Sumerian civilizations. In Greek, Mesopotamia means the 'land between the rivers'. Modern Mesopotamia comprises not only modern day Iraq, but also the area around the famous Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Even parts of the north and east of Syria as well as some parts of south east Turkey, is also considered part of what was Mesopotamia in ancient times. In ancient times, groups of hunters and gatherers settled between the two great rivers to form the greatest human civilization. If you turn on your TV, you will find the greatest civilization known to humans is under duress and struggling to stay afloat under repeated foreign and domestic threats. Death and suffering is the order of the day in Iraq which was very much a part of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization.

The geographical advantages of Mesopotamia allowed the hunters to give up their nomadic lifestyle and concentrate on creating a stable statehood, law and culture. Triggered future civilizations: The civilization created by the people triggered future civilizations in the west and the east. There were many exchanges during the period which led to a further enrichment of the culture. Civilizations have always prospered on the banks of the famous rivers and ancient Mesopotamia was no exception. The rivers always were a mixed blessing. The strip of land in ancient Mesopotamia known as the Fertile Crescent includes parts of Syria, Lebanon and Israel as well. Rivers not only flooded the region resulting in destruction of crops, but also provided a route for invaders to come in as well. The flooding also deposited silt that always kept the land fertile for a prolonged period. The channel also acted as a convenient route for trade with other countries and communities that prospered in the region and the people soon evolved into famous philosophers, lawmakers and leaders. Mesopotamia - Ancient History Encyclopedia Mesopotamia by Joshua J.

Mark published on 02 September 2009 Mesopotamia (from the Greek , meaning 'between two rivers’) was an ancient region in the eastern Mediterranean bounded in the northeast by the Zagros Mountains and in the southeast by the Arabian Plateau, corresponding to today’s Iraq, mostly, but also parts of modern-day Iran, Syria and Turkey . The 'two rivers' of the name referred to the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers and the land was known as 'Al-Jazirah' (the island) by the Arabs referencing what Egyptologist J.H. Breasted would later call the Fertile Crescent , where Mesopotamian civilization began. The Cradle of Civilization Unlike the more unified civilizations of Egypt or Greece , Mesopotamia was a collection of varied cultures whose only real bonds were their script , their gods, and their attitude toward women. The social customs, laws, and even language of Akkad , for example, cannot be assumed to correspond to those of Babylon ; it does seem, however, that the rights of women, the importance of literacy, and the pantheon of the gods were indeed shared throughout the region (though the gods had different names in various regions and periods).

As a result of this, Mesopotamia should be more properly understood as a region that produced multiple empires and civilizations rather than any single civilization. Even so, Mesopotamia is known as the “cradle of civilization” primarily because of two developments that occurred there, in the region of Sumer , in the 4th millenium BCE: Advertisement the rise of the city as we recognize that entity today, and the invention of writing (although writing is also known to have developed in Egypt, in the Indus Valley , in China , and to have taken form independently in Mesoamerica). Women enjoyed nearly equal rights and could own land, file for divorce, own their own businesses, and make contracts in trade The invention of the wheel is also credited to the Mesopotamians and, in 1922 CE, the archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley discovered “the remains of two four-wheeled wagons, [at the site of the ancient city of Ur ] the oldest wheeled vehicles in history ever found, along with their leather tires” (Bertman, 35).

Other important developments or inventions credited to the Mesopotamians include, but are by no means limited to, domestication of animals, agriculture, common tools, sophisticated weaponry and warfare , the chariot , wine, beer , demarcation of time into hours, minutes, and seconds, religious rites, the sail (sailboats), and irrigation. Archaeological excavations starting in the 1840s CE have revealed human settlements dating to 10,000 BCE in Mesopotamia that indicate that the fertile conditions of the land between two rivers allowed an ancient hunter-gatherer people to settle in the land, domesticate animals, and turn their attention to agriculture. Trade soon followed, and with prosperity came urbanization and the birth of the city. It is generally thought that writing was invented due to trade, out of the necessity for long-distance communication, and for keeping more careful track of accounts. Learning and Religion Mesopotamia was known in antiquity as a seat of learning, and it is believed that Thales of Miletus (known as the 'first philosopher') studied there.

As the Babylonians believed that water was the 'first principle' from which all else flowed, and as Thales is famous for that very claim, it seems probable he studied in the region. Intellectual pursuits were highly valued across the region, and the schools (devoted primarily to the priestly class) were said to be as numerous as temples and taught reading, writing, religion, law, medicine, and astrology. There were over 1,000 deities in the pantheon of the gods of the Mesopotamian cultures and many stories concerning the gods (among them, the creation myth, the Enuma Elish), and it is generally accepted that biblical tales such as the Fall of Man and the Flood of Noah (among many others) originated in Mesopotamian lore, as they first appear in Mesopotamian works such as The Myth of Adapa and the Epic of Gilgamesh , the oldest written story in the world. The Mesopotamians believed that they were co-workers with the gods and that the land was infused with spirits and demons (though `demons’ should not be understood in the modern, Christian, sense).

Remove Ads Advertisement The beginning of the world, they believed, was a victory by the gods over the forces of chaos but, even though the gods had won, this did not mean chaos could not come again. Through daily rituals, attention to the deities, proper funeral practices, and simple civic duty, the people of Mesopotamia felt they helped maintain balance in the world and kept the forces of chaos and destruction at bay. Along with expectations that one would honor one’s elders and treat people with respect, the citizens of the land were also to honor the gods through the jobs they performed every day. Jobs Men and women both worked, and “because ancient Mesopotamia was fundamentally an agrarian society, the principal occupations were growing crops and raising livestock” (Bertman, 274). Other occupations included those of the scribe, the healer, artisan, weaver, potter, shoemaker, fisherman, teacher, and priest or priestess. The historian Bertman writes: At the head of society were the kings and priests served by the populous staff of palace and temple . With the institution of standing armies and the spread of imperialism, military officers and professional soldiers took their place in Mesopotamia’s expanding and diverse workforce.

(274) Women enjoyed nearly equal rights and could own land, file for divorce, own their own businesses, and make contracts in trade. The early brewers of beer and wine, as well as the healers in the community, were initially women. These trades were later taken over by men, it seems, when it became apparent they were lucrative occupations. The work one did, however, was never considered simply a `job’ but one’s contribution to the community and, by extension, to the gods’ efforts in keeping the world at peace and in harmony. Advertisement Buildings and Government The king was responsible for the welfare of his people and a good king, who ruled in accordance with divine will, was recognized by the prosperity of the region he reigned over. The temple, at the center of every city (often on a raised platform), symbolized the importance of the city’s patron deity who would also be worshipped by whatever communities that city presided over. Mesopotamia gave birth to the world’s first cities which were largely built of sun-dried brick. In the words of Bertman, “The domestic architecture of Mesopotamia grew out of the soil upon which it stood.

Unlike Egypt, Mesopotamia –especially in the south– was barren of stone that could be quarried for construction.” The land was equally devoid of trees for timber, so the people “turned to other natural resources that lay abundantly at hand: the muddy clay of its riverbanks and the rushes and reeds that grew in their marshes. With them, the Mesopotamians created the world’s first columns, arches, and roofed structures” (285). Simple homes were constructed from bundles of reeds lashed together and inserted in the ground, while more complex homes were built of sun-dried clay brick (a practice followed later by the Egyptians). Cities and temple complexes, with their famous ziggurats (the step- pyramid structures indigenous to the region), were all built using oven-baked bricks of clay which were then painted. The gods were thought to be present in the planning and execution of any building project and very specific prayers, recited in a set order to the proper deity, were considered of utmost importance in the success of the project and the prosperity of the occupants of the home.

Whichever kingdom or empire held sway across Mesopotamia, in whatever historical period, the vital role of the gods in the lives of the people remained undiminished. This reverence for the divine characterized the lives of both the field worker and the king. The historian Helen Chapin Metz writes: The precariousness of existence in southern Mesopotamia led to a highly developed sense of religion. Cult centers such as Eridu , dating back to 5000 BCE, served as important centers of pilgrimage and devotion even before the rise of Sumer. Many of the most important Mesopotamian cities emerged in areas surrounding the pre-Sumerian cult centers, thus reinforcing the close relationship between religion and government. The role of the king was established at some point after 3600 BCE and, unlike the priest-rulers who came before, the king dealt directly with the people and made his will clear through laws of his own devising.

Prior to the concept of a king, the priestly rulers are believed to have dictated the law according to religious precepts and received divine messages through signs and omens; the king, while still honoring and placating the gods, was considered a powerful enough representative of those gods to be able to speak their will through his own dictates, using his own voice. This is most clearly seen in the famous laws of Hammurabi of Babylon, but a ruler claiming direct contact with the gods was quite common throughout Mesopotamian history, most notably in the Akkadian king Naram-Sin who went so far as to proclaim himself a god incarnate. The king was responsible for the welfare of his people and a good king, who ruled in accordance with divine will, was recognized by the prosperity of the region he reigned over. Still, even very efficient rulers, such as Sargon of Akkad , had to deal with perpetual uprisings and revolts by factions, or whole regions, contesting his legitimacy. As Mesopotamia was so vast a region, with so many different cultures and ethnicities within its borders, a single ruler attempting to enforce the laws of a central government would invariably be met with resistance from some quarter.

The History of Mesopotamia The history of the region, and the development of the civilizations which flourished there, is most easily understood by dividing it into periods: Pre- Pottery Neolithic Age: Also known as The Stone Age (c. 10,000 BCE though evidence suggests human habitation much earlier). There is archaeological confirmation of crude settlements and early signs of warfare between tribes, most likely over fertile land for crops and fields for grazing livestock. Animal husbandry was increasingly practiced during this time with a shift from a hunter-gatherer culture to an agrarian one. Even so, the historian Marc Van De Mieroop notes: There was not a sudden change from hunting-gathering to farming, but rather a slow process during which people increased their reliance on resources they managed directly, but still supplemented their diets by hunting wild animals. Agriculture enabled an increase in continuous settlement by people (12). As more settlements grew, architectural developments slowly became more sophisticated in the construction of permanent dwellings. Pottery Neolithic Age: (c. 7,000 BCE) In this period there was a widespread use of tools and clay pots and a specific culture begins to emerge in the Fertile Crescent.

The historian Bertman writes, “during this era, the only advanced technology was literally 'cutting edge'” as stone tools and weapons became more sophisticated. Bertman further notes that “the Neolithic economy was primarily based on food production through farming and animal husbandry” (55) and was more settled, as opposed to the Stone Age in which communities were more mobile. Architectural advancements naturally followed in the wake of permanent settlements as did developments in the manufacture of ceramics and stone tools. Copper Age: (5,900 – 3,200 BCE) Also known as The Chalcolithic Period owing to the transition from stone tools and weapons to ones made of copper. The rise of cities began in this period, most notably in the regions of Sumer in which thrived the cities of Eridu, Uruk , Ur, Kish, Nuzi, Lagash, Nippur, and Ngirsu, and in Elam with its city of Susa . The earliest city is often cited as Uruk, although Eridu and Ur have also been suggested.

Van De Mieroop writes, “Mesopotamia was the most densely urbanized region in the ancient world” (as cited in Bertman, 201), and the cities which grew up along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, as well as those founded further away, established systems of trade which resulted in great prosperity. This period saw the invention of the wheel (c. 3500 BCE) and writing (c. 3000 BCE), both by the Sumerians , the establishment of kingships to replace priestly rule, and the first war in the world recorded between the kingdoms of Sumer and Elam (3,200 BCE) with Sumer as the victor. Increased prosperity in the region gave rise to ornate temples and statuary, sophisticated pottery and figurines, toys for children (including dolls for girls and wheeled carts for boys), and the use of personal seals to denote ownership of property or stand for an individual’s signature. Early Bronze Age: (3,000 – 2119 BCE) During this period, bronze supplanted copper as the material from which tools and weapons were made.

The rise of the city-state laid the foundation for economic and political stability which would eventually lead to the rise of the Akkadian Empire (2350 BCE) and the rapid growth of the cities of Akkad and Mari , two of the most prosperous urban centers of the time. The cultural stability necessary for the creation of art in the region resulted in more intricate designs in architecture and sculpture, as well as “a number of specific and momentous inventions: the plough and the wheel, the chariot and the sailboat, and the cylinder-seal, the single most distinctive art form of ancient Mesopotamia and a pervasive demonstration of the importance of property ownership and business in the country’s daily life,” were all either invented or improved upon during this time (Bertman, 55-56). The Akkadian Empire of Sargon was the first multi-national realm in the world and Sargon's daughter, Enheduanna , the first author of literary works known by name. The library at Mari contained over 20,000 cuneiform tablets (books) and the palace there was considered one of the finest in the region.

Middle Bronze Age: (2119-1700 BCE) The expansion of the Assyrian Kingdoms (Assur, Nimrud , Sharrukin, Dur, and Nineveh ) and the rise of the Babylonian Dynasty (centered in Babylon and Chaldea) created an atmosphere conducive to trade and, with it, increased warfare. The Guti Tribe, fierce nomads who succeeded in toppling the Akkadian Empire, dominated the politics of Mesopotamia until they were defeated by the allied forces of the kings of Sumer. Hammurabi, King of Babylon (1792-1750 BCE), rose from relative obscurity to conquer the region and reign for 43 years. Among his many accomplishments was his famous code of laws, inscribed on the stele of the gods. Babylon became a leading centre at this time for intellectual pursuit and high accomplishment in arts and letters. This cultural centre was not to last, however, and was sacked and looted by the Hittites who were then succeeded by the Kassites.

Late Bronze Age: (1700-1100 BCE) The rise of the Kassite Dynasty (a tribe who came from the Zagros Mountains in the north and are thought to have originated in modern-day Iran) leads to a shift in power and an expansion of culture and learning after the Kassites conquered Babylon. The collapse of the Bronze Age followed the discovery of how to mine ore and make use of iron, a technology which the Kassites and, earlier, the Hittites made singular use of in warfare. The period also saw the beginning of the decline of Babylonian culture due to the rise in power of the Kassites until they were defeated by the Elamites and driven out. After the Elamites gave way to the Aramaeans, the small Kingdom of Assyria began a series of successful campaigns, and the Assyrian Empire was firmly established and prospered under the rule of Tiglath-Pileser I and, after him, Ashurnasirpal II . Most Mesopotamian states were either destroyed or weakened following the Bronze Age Collapse around 1200 BCE, leading to a short "dark age".

Iron Age: (1000 – 500 BCE) This age saw the rise and expansion of the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Tiglath-Pileser III and that Empire’s meteoric rise to power and conquest under the rule of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal (who conquered Babylonia , Syria, Israel , and Egypt). The Empire suffered a decline as rapid as its rise due to repeated attacks on central cities by Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians. The tribes of the Hittites and the Mitanni consolidated their respective powers during this time which resulted in the rise of the Neo- Hittite and Neo-Babylonian Empires. King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem (588 BCE) during this period and forced the inhabitants of Israel into the “Babylonian Exile”. He was also responsible for extensive construction in Babylon, creating famous buildings such as the Ishtar Gate and the Great Ziggurat (the "Tower of Babel "). The fall of Babylon to Cyrus II of Persia in 539 BCE effectively ended Babylonian culture.

Classical Antiquity: (500 BCE – 7th century CE) After Cyrus II took Babylon, the bulk of Mesopotamia became part of the Persian Empire, and this period saw a rapid cultural decline, most notably in the loss of the knowledge of cuneiform script. The conquest of the Persians by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE brought Hellenization of the culture and religion, and even though Alexander tried to again make Babylon a city of consequence, its days of glory were a thing of the past. After his death, Alexander’s general Seleucus took control of the region and founded the Seleucid Dynasty which ruled until 126 BCE when the land was conquered by the Parthians who were, in turn, dominated by the Sassanians (a people of Persian descent). Bertman writes, “Under Sassanian domination, Mesopotamia lay in ruins, its fields dried out or turned into a swampy morass, its once great cities made ghost towns” (58).

By the time of the conquest by the Roman Empire (116 CE), Mesopotamia was a largely Hellenized region, lacking in any unity, which had forgotten the old gods and the old ways. The Romans improved the infrastructure of their colonies significantly through their introduction of better roads and plumbing and brought Roman Law to the land. The entire culture of the region once known as Mesopotamia was swept away in the final conquest of the area by Muslim Arabs in the 7th century CE which resulted in the unification of law, language, religion and culture under Islam. Bertman notes, “With the Islamic conquest of 651 CE the history of ancient Mesopotamia ends” (58). Today the great cities that once rose along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are largely unexcavated mounds or broken bricks on arid plains, and the once fertile crescent has steadily dwindled to a wasteland due to human factors (such as overuse of the land through agricultural pursuits or urban development) and to climate change. Legacy The legacy of Mesopotamia endures today through many of the most basic aspects of modern life such as the sixty-second minute and the sixty-minute hour.

Helen Chapin Metz writes, Because the well-being of the community depended upon close observation of natural phenomena, scientific or protoscientific activities occupied much of the priests' time. For example, the Sumerians believed that each of the gods was represented by a number. The number sixty, sacred to the god An, was their basic unit of calculation. The minutes of an hour and the notational degrees of a circle were Sumerian concepts. The highly developed agricultural system and the refined irrigation and water-control systems that enabled Sumer to achieve surplus production also led to the growth of large cities. Urbanization, the wheel, writing, astronomy, mathematics, wind power, irrigation, agricultural developments, animal husbandry, and the narratives which would eventually be re-written as the Hebrew Scriptures and form the Christian Old Testament all came from the land of Mesopotamia. According to Bertman, “In his book, History Begins at Sumer, Samuel Noah Kramer lists 39 `firsts’ in recorded history that can be credited to the Sumerians and the culture they created” (326).

Among these `firsts’ are Man’s First Cosmogony and Cosmology, The First Moral Ideas, The First Biblical Parallels, The First `Noah’, ` Moses ’, and `Job’, Man’s First Epic Literature , The First Case of Library Borrowing, The First Legal Precedent, The First Aquarium, and The First Proverbs and Sayings. Mesopotamia generally, and Sumer specifically, gave the world some of its most enduring cultural aspects and, even though the cities and great palaces are long gone, that legacy continues. About the Author Iraq Facts and History Share By Kallie Szczepanski The modern nation of Iraq is built upon foundations that go back to some of humanity's earliest complex cultures. It was in Iraq, also known as Mesopotamia , that Babylonian king Hammurabi regularized the law in the Code of Hammurabi, c. 1772 BCE. Under Hammurabi's system, society would inflict upon a criminal the same harm that the criminal had inflicted upon his victim.

This is codified in the famous dictum, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." More recent Iraqi history, however, tends to support the Mahatma Gandhi's take on this rule. He is supposed to have said that "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." Capital and Major Cities: Capital: Baghdad, population 9,500,000 (2008 estimate) Major cities: Mosul, 3,000,000 Kirkuk, 1,200,000 Government of Iraq: The Republic of Iraq is a parliamentary democracy. The head of state is the president, currently Jalal Talabani, while the head of government is Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki . continue reading below our video Overview of the Iraq War The unicameral parliament is called the Council of Representatives; its 325 members serve four-year terms. Eight of those seats are specifically reserved for ethnic or religious minorities. Iraq's judiciary system consists of the Higher Judicial Council, the Federal Supreme Court, the Federal Court of Cassation, and lower courts.

("Cassation" literally means "to quash" - it is another term for appeals, evidently taken from the French legal system.) Population: Iraq has a total population of about 30.4 million. The population growth rate is an estimated 2.4%. About 66% of Iraqis live in urban areas. Some 75-80% of Iraqis are Arabs. Another 15-20% are Kurds , by far the largest ethnic minority; they live primarily in northern Iraq. The remaining roughly 5% of the population is made up of Turkomen, Assyrians, Armenians, Chaldeans and other ethnic groups. Languages: Both Arabic and Kurdish are official languages of Iraq. Kurdish is an Indo-European language related to Iranian languages. Minority languages in Iraq include Turkoman, which is a Turkic language; Assyrian, a Neo-Aramaic language of the Semitic language family; and Armenian, an Indo-European language with possible Greek roots. Thus, although the total number of languages spoken in Iraq is not high, the linguistic variety is great. Religion: Iraq is an overwhelmingly Muslim country, with an estimated 97% of the population following Islam .

Perhaps unfortunately, it is also among the most even divided countries on Earth in terms of Sunni and Shi'a populations; 60 to 65% of Iraqis are Shi'a, while 32 to 37% are Sunni. Under Saddam Hussein, the Sunni minority controlled the government, often persecuting Shi'as. Since the new constitution was implemented in 2005, Iraq is supposed to be a democratic country, but the Shi'a/Sunni split is a source of much tension as the nation sorts out a new form of government. Iraq also has a small Christian community, around 3% of the population. During the nearly decade-long war following the US-led invasion in 2003, many Christians fled Iraq for Lebanon , Syria, Jordan, or western countries. Geography: Iraq is a desert country, but it is watered by two major rivers - the Tigris and the Euphrates. Only 12% of Iraq's land is arable. It controls a 58 km (36 mile) coast on the Persian Gulf, where the two rivers empty into the Indian Ocean.

Iraq is bordered by Iran to the east, Turkey and Syria to the north, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to the west, and Kuwait to the southeast. Its highest point is Cheekah Dar, a mountain in the north of the country, at 3,611 m (11,847 feet). Its lowest point is sea level. Climate: As a subtropical desert, Iraq experiences extreme seasonal variation in temperature. In parts of the country, July and August temperatures average over 48°C (118°F). During the rainy winter months of December through March, however, temperatures drop below freezing not infrequently. Some years, heavy mountain snow in the north produces dangerous flooding on the rivers. The lowest temperature recorded in Iraq was -14°C (7°F). The highest temperature was 54°C (129°F). Another key feature of Iraq's climate is the sharqi, a southerly wind that blows from April through early June, and again in October and November. It gusts up to 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph), causing sand storms that can be seen from space.

Economy: The economy of Iraq is all about oil; "black gold" provides more than 90% of government revenue, and accounts for 80% of the country's foreign exchange income. As of 2011, Iraq was producing 1.9 million barrels per day of oil, while consuming 700,000 barrels per day domestically. (Even as it exports almost 2 million barrels per day, Iraq also imports 230,000 barrels per day.) Since the start of the US-led War in Iraq in 2003, foreign aid has become a major component of Iraq's economy, as well. The US has pumped some $58 billion dollars worth of aid into the country between 2003 and 2011; other nations have pledge an additional $33 billion in reconstruction aid. Iraq's workforce is employed primarily in the service sector, although about 15 to 22% work in agriculture. The unemployment rate is around 15%, and an estimated 25% of Iraqis live below the poverty line. The Iraqi currency is the dinar.

As of February 2012, $1 US is equal to 1,163 dinar. History of Iraq: Part of the Fertile Crescent, Iraq was one of the early sites of complex human civilization and agricultural practice. Once called Mesopotamia , Iraq was the seat of the Sumerian and Babylonian cultures c. 4,000 - 500 BCE. During this early period, Mesopotamians invented or refined technologies such as writing and irrigation; the famous King Hammurabi (r. 1792- 1750 BCE) recorded the law in the Code of Hammurabi, and over a thousand of years later, Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605 - 562 BCE) built the incredible Hanging Gardens of Babylon. After about 500 BCE, Iraq was ruled by a succession of Persian dynasties, such as the Achaemenids , the Parthians , the Sassanids and the Seleucids . Although local governments existed in Iraq, they were under Iranian control until the 600s CE.

In 633, the year after the Prophet Muhammad died, a Muslim army under Khalid ibn Walid invaded Iraq. By 651, the soldiers of Islam had brought down the Sassanid Empire in Persia, and began to Islamicize the region that is now Iraq and Iran . Between 661 and 750, Iraq was a dominion of the Umayyad Caliphate , which ruled from Damascus (now in Syria ). The Abbasid Caliphate , which ruled the Middle East and North Africa from 750 to 1258, decided to build a new capital closer to the political power hub of Persia. It built the city of Baghdad, which became a center of Islamic art and learning. In 1258, catastrophe struck the Abbasids and Iraq in the form the Mongols under Hulagu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan . The Mongols demanded that Baghdad surrender, but the Caliph Al-Mustasim refused. Hulagu's troops laid siege to Baghdad, taking the city with at least 200,000 Iraqi dead.

The Mongols also burned the Grand Library of Baghdad and its wonderful collection of documents - one of the great crimes of history. The caliph himself was executed by being rolled in a carpet and trampled by horses; this was an honorable death in Mongol culture, because none of the caliph's noble blood touched the ground. Hulagu's army would meet defeat by the Egyptian Mamluk slave-army in the Battle of Ayn Jalut . In the Mongols' wake, however, the Black Death carried away about a third of Iraq's population. In 1401, Timur the Lame (Tamerlane) captured Baghdad, and ordered another massacre of its people. Timur's fierce army only controlled Iraq for a few years, and was supplanted by the Ottoman Turks. The Ottoman Empire would rule Iraq from the fifteenth century through 1917, when Britain wrested the Middle East from Turkish control and the Ottoman Empire collapsed. Under the British/French plan to divide the Middle East, the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, Iraq became part of the British Mandate.

On November 11, 1920, the region became a British mandate under the League of Nations, called the "State of Iraq." Britain brought in a (Sunni) Hashemite king from the region of Mecca and Medina, now in Saudi Arabia, to rule over the primarily Shi'a Iraqis and Kurds of Iraq, sparking widespread discontent and rebellion. In 1932, Iraq gained nominal independence from Britain, although the British-appointed King Faisal still ruled the country and the British military had special rights in Iraq. The Hashemites ruled until 1958, when King Faisal II was assassinated in a coup led by Brigadier General Abd al-Karim Qasim. This signaled the beginning of a rule by a series of strongmen over Iraq, which lasted through 2003. Qasim's rule survived for just five years, before being overthrown in turn by Colonel Abdul Salam Arif in February of 1963. Three years later, Arif's brother took power after the colonel died; however, he would rule Iraq for just two years before being deposed by a Ba'ath Party-led coup in 1968.

The Ba'athist government was led by Ahmed Hasan Al-Bakir at first, but he was slowly elbowed aside over the next decade by Saddam Hussein . Saddam Hussein formally seized power as president of Iraq in 1979. The following year, feeling threatened by rhetoric from the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini , new leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saddam Hussein launched an invasion of Iran that led to the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq War . Hussein himself was a secularist, but the Ba'ath Party was dominated by Sunnis. Khomeini hoped that Iraq's Shi'ite majority would rise up against Hussein in an Iranian Revolution -style movement, but that did not happen. With support from the Gulf Arab states and the United States, Saddam Hussein was able to fight the Iranians to a stalemate. He also took the opportunity to use chemical weapons against tens of thousands of Kurdish and Marsh Arab civilians within his own country, as well as against the Iranian troops, in blatant violation of international treaty norms and standards. Its economy ravaged by the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq decided to invade the small but wealthy neighboring nation of Kuwait in 1990.

Saddam Hussein announced that he had annexed Kuwait; when he refused to withdraw, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to take military action in 1991 in order to oust the Iraqis. An international coalition led by the United States (which had been allied with Iraq just three years earlier) routed the Iraqi Army in a matter of months, but Saddam Hussein's troops set fire to Kuwaiti oil wells on their way out, causing an ecological disaster along the Persian Gulf coast. This fighting would come to be known as the First Gulf War . Following the First Gulf War, the United States patrolled a no-fly zone over the Kurdish north of Iraq to protect civilians there from Saddam Hussein's government; Iraqi Kurdistan began to function as a separate country, even while nominally still part of Iraq. Throughout the 1990s, the international community was concerned that Saddam Hussein's government was trying to develop nuclear weapons. In 1993, the US also learned that Hussein had made a plan to assassinate President George H. W. Bush during the First Gulf War. The Iraqis allowed UN weapons inspectors in to the country, but expelled them in 1998, claiming that they were CIA spies.

In October of that year, US President Bill Clinton called for "regime change" in Iraq. After George W. Bush became president of the United States in 2000, his administration began to prepare for a war against Iraq. Bush the younger resented Saddam Hussein's plans to kill Bush the elder, and made the case that Iraq was developing nuclear weapons despite rather flimsy evidence. The September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington DC gave Bush the political cover he needed to launch a Second Gulf War, even though Saddam Hussein's government had nothing to do with al-Qaeda or the 9/11 attacks. The Iraq War began on March 20, 2003, when a US-led coalition invaded Iraq from Kuwait. The coalition drove the Ba'athist regime out of power, installing an Iraqi Interim Government in June of 2004, and organizing free elections for October of 2005. Saddam Hussein went in to hiding, but was captured by US troops on December 13, 2003.

In the chaos, sectarian violence broke out across the country between the Shi'a majority and the Sunni minority; al-Qaeda seized the opportunity to establish a presence in Iraq. Iraq's interim government tried Saddam Hussein for the killing of Iraqi Shi'ites in 1982, and sentenced him to death. Saddam Hussein was hanged on December 30, 2006. After a "surge" of troops to quell violence in 2007-2008, the US withdrew from Baghdad in June of 2009, and left Iraq completely in December of 2011. What is Mesopotamia called today? | Reference.com What is Mesopotamia called today? A: Quick Answer Ancient Mesopotamia encompasses all of the country of Iraq. Some parts of Turkey, Syria and Iran area also overlap with the old borders of Mesopotamia. Full Answer Mesopotamia is also called the Fertile Crescent and encompasses the area between and around two important rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates.

Another name for this area is the cradle of civilization, due to the multiple ancient civilizations that rose in the area, such as the Sumerians and the Akkadian Empire. The two rivers provided enough water and fertilized land to support settlements, so the hunter-gatherer lifestyle was no longer necessary. On this land, settlers were able to begin farming and domesticating animals, which led to complex civilizations. Babylon - Ancient History Encyclopedia Babylon by Joshua J. Mark published on 28 April 2011 Babylon is the most famous city from ancient Mesopotamia whose ruins lie in modern-day Iraq 59 miles (94 kilometres) southwest of Baghdad. The name is thought to derive from bav-il or bav-ilim which, in the Akkadian language of the time, meant ‘Gate of God’ or `Gate of the Gods’ and `Babylon’ coming from Greek . The city owes its fame (or infamy) to the many references the Bible makes to it; all of which are unfavourable.

In the Book of Genesis, chapter 11, Babylon is featured in the story of The Tower of Babel and the Hebrews claimed the city was named for the confusion which ensued after God caused the people to begin speaking in different languages so they would not be able to complete their great tower to the heavens (the Hebrew word bavel means `confusion’). Babylon also appears prominently in the biblical books of Daniel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah, among others, and, most notably, The Book of Revelation. It was these biblical references which sparked interest in Mesopotamian archaeology and the expedition by the German archaeologist Robert Koldewey who first excavated the ruins of Babylon in 1899 CE. Outside of the sinful reputation given it by the Bible, the city is known for its impressive walls and buildings, its reputation as a great seat of learning and culture, the formation of a code of law which pre-dates the Mosaic Law, and for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon which were man-made terraces of flora and fauna, watered by machinery, which were cited by Herodotus as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Advertisement The Old City & Hammurabi Babylon was founded at some point prior to the reign of Sargon of Akkad (also known as Sargon the Great ) who ruled from 2334-2279 BCE and claimed to have built temples at Babylon (other ancient sources seem to indicate that Sargon himself founded the city). At that time, Babylon seems to have been a minor city or perhaps a large port town on the Euphrates River at the point where it runs closest to the river Tigris. Whatever early role the city played in the ancient world is lost to modern-day scholars because the water level in the region has risen steadily over the centuries and the ruins of Old Babylon have become inaccessible. The ruins which were excavated by Koldewey, and are visible today, date only to well over one thousand years after the city was founded. The historian Paul Kriwaczek, among other scholars, claims it was established by the Amorites following the collapse of the Third Dynasty of Ur . This information, and any other pertaining to Old Babylon, comes to us today through artifacts which were carried away from the city after the Persian invasion or those which were created elsewhere.

Every ancient writer mentions Babylon with a tone of awe and reverence. The known history of Babylon, then, begins with its most famous king: Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE). This obscure Amorite prince ascended to the throne upon the abdication of his father, King Sin-Muballit, and fairly quickly transformed the city into one of the most powerful and influential in all of Mesopotamia. Hammurabi’s law codes are well known but are only one example of the policies he implemented to maintain peace and encourage prosperity. He enlarged and heightened the walls of the city, engaged in great public works which included opulent temples and canals, and made diplomacy an integral part of his administration. So successful was he in both diplomacy and war that, by 1755 BCE, he had united all of Mesopotamia under the rule of Babylon which, at this time, was the largest city in the world, and named his realm Babylonia .

The Assyrians, Chaldeans, & Nebuchadnezzar II Following Hammurabi’s death, his empire fell apart and Babylonia dwindled in size and scope until Babylon was easily sacked by the Hittites in 1595 BCE. The Kassites followed the Hittites and re-named the city Karanduniash. The meaning of this name is not clear. The Assyrians then followed the Kassites in dominating the region and, under the reign of the Assyrian ruler Sennacherib (reigned 705-681 BCE), Babylon revolted. Sennacherib had the city sacked, razed, and the ruins scattered as a lesson to others. His extreme measures were considered impious by the people generally and Sennacherib’s court specifically and he was soon after assassinated by his sons. His successor, Esarhaddon , re-built Babylon and returned it to its former glory. The city later rose in revolt against Ashurbanipal of Nineveh who besieged and defeated the city but did not damage it to any great extent and, in fact, personally purified Babylon of the evil spirits which were thought to have led to the trouble.

The reputation of the city as a center of learning and culture was already well established by this time. Remove Ads Advertisement After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, a Chaldean named Nabopolassar took the throne of Babylon and, through careful alliances, created the Neo-Babylonian Empire. His son, Nebuchadnezzar II (604-561 BCE), renovated the city so that it covered 900 hectares (2,200 acres) of land and boasted some the most beautiful and impressive structures in all of Mesopotamia. Every ancient writer to make mention of the city of Babylon, outside of those responsible for the stories in the Bible, does so with a tone of awe and reverence. Herodotus, for example, writes: The city stands on a broad plain, and is an exact square, a hundred and twenty stadia in length each way, so that the entire circuit is four hundred and eighty stadia. While such is its size, in magnificence there is no other city that approaches to it.

It is surrounded, in the first place, by a broad and deep moat, full of water, behind which rises a wall fifty royal cubits in width and two hundred in height. Although it is generally believed that Herodotus greatly exaggerated the dimensions of the city (and may never have actually visited the place himself) his description echoes the admiration of other writers of the time who recorded the magnificence of Babylon, and especially the great walls, as a wonder of the world. It was under Nebuchadnezzar II’s reign that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are said to have been constructed and the famous Ishtar Gate built.

The Hanging gardens are most explicitly described in a passage from Diodorus Siculus (90-30 BCE) in his work Bibliotheca Historica Book II.10: Remove Ads Advertisement There was also, because the acropolis , the Hanging Garden, as it is called, which was built, not by Semiramis , but by a later Syrian king to please one of his concubines; for she, they say, being a Persian by race and longing for the meadows of her mountains, asked the king to imitate, through the artifice of a planted garden, the distinctive landscape of Persia . The park extended four plethra on each side, and since the approach to the garden sloped like a hillside and the several parts of the structure rose from one another tier on tier, the appearance of the whole resembled that of a theatre. When the ascending terraces had been built, there had been constructed beneath them galleries which carried the entire weight of the planted garden and rose little by little one above the other along the approach; and the uppermost gallery, which was fifty cubits high, bore the highest surface of the park, which was made level with the circuit wall of the battlements of the city.

Furthermore, the walls, which had been constructed at great expense, were twenty-two feet thick, while the passage-way between each two walls was ten feet wide. The roofs of the galleries were covered over with beams of stone sixteen feet long, inclusive of the overlap, and four feet wide. The roof above these beams had first a layer of reeds laid in great quantities of bitumen, over this two courses of baked brick bonded by cement, and as a third layer a covering of lead, to the end that the moisture from the soil might not penetrate beneath. On all this again earth had been piled to a depth sufficient for the roots of the largest trees; and the ground, which was levelled off, was thickly planted with trees of every kind that, by their great size or any other charm, could give pleasure to beholder. And since the galleries, each projecting beyond another, all received the light, they contained many royal lodgings of every description; and there was one gallery which contained openings leading from the topmost surface and machines for supplying the garden with water, the machines raising the water in great abundance from the river, although no one outside could see it being done. Now this park, as I have said, was a later construction.

This part of Diodorus' work concerns the semi-mythical queen Semiramis (most probably based on the actual Assyrian queen Sammu-Ramat who reigned 811-806 BCE). His reference to "a later Syrian king" follows Herodotus' tendency of referring to Mesopotamia as ` Assyria '. Recent scholarship on the subject argues that the Hanging Gardens were never located at Babylon but were instead the creation Sennacherib at his capital of Nineveh. The historian Christopher Scarre writes: Sennacherib’s palace [at Nineveh] had all the usual accoutrements of a major Assyrian residence: colossal guardian figures and impressively carved stone reliefs (over 2,000 sculptured slabs in 71 rooms). Its gardens, too, were exceptional. Recent research by British Assyriologist Stephanie Dalley has suggested that these were the famous Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Later writers placed the Hanging Gardens at Babylon, but extensive research has failed to find any trace of them. Sennacherib’s proud account of the palace gardens he created at Nineveh fits that of the Hanging Gardens in several significant details (231).

This period in which the Hanging Gardens were allegedly built was also the time of the Babylonian Exile of the Jews and the period in which the Babylonian Talmud was written. The Euphrates River divided the city in two between an `old’ and a `new’ city with the Temple of Marduk and the great towering ziggurat in the center. Streets and avenues were widened to better accommodate the yearly processional of the statue of the great god Marduk in the journey from his home temple in the city to the New Year Festival Temple outside the Ishtar Gate. The Persian Conquest & Babylon's Decline The Neo-Babylonian Empire continued after the death of Nebuchadnezzar II and Babylon continued to play an important role in the region under the rule of Nabonidus and his successor Belshazzar (featured in the biblical Book of Daniel). In 539 BCE the empire fell to the Persians under Cyrus the Great at the Battle of Opis. Babylon’s walls were impregnable and so the Persians cleverly devised a plan whereby they diverted the course of the Euphrates River so that it fell to a manageable depth.

While the residents of the city were distracted by one of their great religious feast days, the Persian army waded the river and marched under the walls of Babylon unnoticed. It was claimed the city was taken without a fight although documents of the time indicate that repairs had to be made to the walls and some sections of the city and so perhaps the action was not as effortless as the Persian account maintained. Under Persian rule, Babylon flourished as a center of art and education. Cyrus and his successors held the city in great regard and made it the administrative capital of their empire (although at one point the Persian emperor Xerxes felt obliged to lay siege to the city after another revolt). Babylonian mathematics, cosmology, and astronomy were highly respected and it is thought that Thales of Miletus (known as the first western philosopher) may have studied there and that Pythagoras developed his famous mathematical theorem based upon a Babylonian model. When, after two hundred years, the Persian Empire fell to Alexander the Great in 331 BCE, he also gave great reverence to the city, ordering his men not to damage the buildings nor molest the inhabitants.

The historian Stephen Bertman writes, “Before his death, Alexander the Great ordered the superstructure of Babylon’s ziggurat pulled down in order that it might be rebuilt with greater splendor. But he never lived to bring his project to completion. Over the centuries, its scattered bricks have been cannibalized by peasants to fulfill humbler dreams. All that is left of the fabled Tower of Babel is the bed of a swampy pond.” After Alexander’s death at Babylon, his successors (known as `The Diadochi’, Greek for `successors’) fought over his empire generally and the city specifically to the point where the residents fled for their safety (or, according to one ancient report, were re-located). By the time the Parthian Empire ruled the region in 141 BCE Babylon was deserted and forgotten. The city steadily fell into ruin and, even during a brief revival under the Sassanid Persians, never approached its former greatness. In the Muslim conquest of the land in 650 CE whatever remained of Babylon was swept away and, in time, was buried beneath the sands. In the 17th and 18th centuries CE European travelers began to explore the area and return home with various artifacts.

These cuneiform blocks and statues led to an increased interest in the region and, by the 19th century CE, an interest in biblical archaeology drew men like Robert Koldewey who uncovered the ruins of the once great city of the Gate of the Gods. About the Author Maps 2: History - Ancient Period Maps 2: History - Ancient Period HUM 213 Historical Overview URL of this web page: Map 1.1 "The Ancient Near East, 4000-1000 B.C.E." c. 8500 - 8000 BCE "[D]omestication of wild plants and animals was accomplished in Mesopotamia around 8500 B.C.E., well before any other nascent civilization" ("Mesopotamia: The Formation of Cities and the Earliest Literatures"; emphasis added). According to recent archeological evidence, ". . .

people living near the present-day city of Jericho near the Dead Sea were some of the first human beings to practice agriculture,” and “Signs of equally ancient town life have been found at a place called Catal Huyuk in [present-day] Turkey” [Anatolia], where people may have “first practiced irrigation and domesticated animals” (Kort 7; emphasis added). c. 4000? BCE Great Flood stories Archeological evidence was found (in 1929) of a possible great flood “at Ur, near the Persian Gulf, in the delta of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers” (Davis and others [Book 1] 21; emphasis added). “Stories of a great flood or deluge often seen as a warning or punishment have appeared in all parts of the world except Africa": for example, stories of a great flood appear in the Epic of Gilgamesh, ca.1800 BCE; and in the later Hebrew Book of Genesis, ca. 900 BCE (Davis and others [Book 1] 21; emphasis added). c.

3500 - 3000 BCE Thriving cities were established in Mesopotamia along the Tigris-Euphrates Rivers, and in Egypt along the Nile River (Davis and others [Book 1] 2). The Middle East is not all desert: "Rivers allowing for productive agriculture were the key factor in the settling of cities" beginning some 6,000 years ago ("Geography: An Ancient and Modern Crossroads"). In the "Fertile Crescent" (the crescent-shaped region shaded in Maps 1.1 and 1.3), the Tigris and Euphrates River waters enabled the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia to develop the "world's first urban culture"; meanwhile, in Egypt (see Map 1.2) the ancient Egyptians "took advantage of the annual flooding of the Nile [River] for their regular harvest" ("Geography: An Ancient and Modern Crossroads"). "When Egypt was united" circa 3100 BCE, the world had its first political unit large enough to be called a country” (Kort 7).

Mesopotamia''s strategic location at the crossroads of developing trade routes, "documented from as early as 5,000 years ago" ("Geography"), contributed to Mesopotamia's prosperity, cultural diversity, and history of warfare. Map 1.2 "Ancient Egypt" [Map Caption:] "Like the people of Mesopotamia, the Egyptians took advantage of a water source, the Nile River, to irrigate arid land and produce a surplus of food. The river also acted as a highway for traveling north to the Mediterranean and south to Nubia" ("Ancient Egypt." [Map.]; emphasis added). c. 3500 - 2300 BCE Sumerian urban culture centered in Sumer [in what is now modern day Iraq], and Sumerian accomplishments included using the wheel, advancing mathematics (e.g. for measuring time), and creating “the world’s first writing system” - cuneiform - to “keep records of what they did," thus beginning written human “history” (Kort 7). Many migrating peoples entered the region, some as peaceful settlers, others as invaders intent on conquest.

Mesopotamia "must be seen as one of the first significant multilingual, multicultural societies in history, with its 3,000 years of development and no less that four major periods under different ruling groups (Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian and Persian)" ("Mesopotamia: The Formation of Cities and Earliest Literatures"). c. 2600? BCE Gilgamesh Gilgamesh, epic hero and legendary king of Uruk--a Sumerian city located on the Euphrates River in southern Mesopotamia (see Map 1.3)--“is apparently based on a historical figure . . . [whose name is] "found in the lists of Sumerian kings" and who may have "reigned in the city of Uruk . . . sometime between 2800 and 2500 B.C.E." (Davis and others [Book 1] 2, 56). c.

2300 - 2000 BCE The Akkadians, “a Semitic people [originally] from the interior of the Arabian peninsula,” conquered “the non-Semitic Sumerians” of Mesopotamia, led by Akkadian King Sargon I (born 2337? - died 2279? BCE), who is credited with establishing “the first known empire in history—stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea” (Davis and others [Book 1] 17; emphasis added). However, Sargon's united Akkadian empire did not long survive his death, and was subsequently divided into the kingdoms of Babylonia (southern Mesopotamia), Assyria (northern Mesopotamia), and "Elam (Persia) to the east [of Mesopotamia]" (Davis and others [Book 1] 18; emphasis added). See Map 1.3. c.

2100 - 1600 BCE: Epic of Gilgamesh Heroic stories of legendary Sumerian king Gilgamesh, passed down from oral tradition, were written down in “cuneiform on clay tablets” by Mesopotamian poets and were eventually shaped into the Epic of Gilgamesh, "the most influential literary epic to come out of ancient Mesopotamia," though only fragments of this epic have been recovered to date (Davis and others [Book 1] 62). c. 1750 BCE Babylonian King Hammarabi--known for the Code of Hammarabi, one of the world's first written set of laws--united much of Mesopotamia during his reign (r. 1792-1750 BCE) and established his capital at Babylon (Davis and others [Book 1] 18). See Map 1.3.

Babylon [ruins located south of Baghdad in modern Iraq], a “chief commercial city of the Tigris and Euphrates river system,” became “one of the most famous cities of antiquity,” achieving its “greatest glory as capital of the Neo-Babylonian empire under Nebuchadezzer II (r. 605-561 BCE)” (“Babylon”). Map 1.3 "The Ancient Near East" [Map Caption:] "The region of the Near East between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, called Mesopotamia, is thought to be the birthplace of civilization--non-nomadic societies characterized by agriculture and cities. The inhabitants of Mesopotamia raised crops on this rich but dry land by developing and using complex irrigation systems so successful that they resulted in a surplus of food" ("The Ancient Near East." [Map.]; emphasis added). Early Hebrew History (ca. 2000 - 586 BCE) c.

2000 BCE Scriptures; Pentateuch During the Jews’ “Babylonian Exile,” the Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings came together to form "what scholars call a ‘Deuteronomistic History’ (because the work’s theology is heavily influenced by Deuteronomy) . . . of the Israelite states over a five-hundred-year period” shaped by Hebrew theology into "a cycle of sin and redemption" (Hamilton; emphasis added). Drawing on oral and written traditions and (re)interpretations, an authoritative Pentateuch (i.e. the first five books, Genesis through Deuteronomy, of Hebrew scripture) also emerged in the 6th century BCE (Hamilton). Persia and the Persian Empire ca. 1000 - 490 B.C.E. Map 1.4: "Expansion of the Persian Empire, c. 550- 490 B.C.E." [Map Caption:] "Cyrus (r. c. 557–530 B.C.E.) initiated the Persian Empire, which his successors expanded to be even larger than the Neo-Assyrian [i.e. Neo-Babylonia] Empire that it replaced.

The Persian kings pressed hard outward from their inland center to gain coastal possessions for access to seaborne trade and naval bases. By late in the reign of Darius (r. 522–486 B.C.E.), the Persian Empire had expanded eastward as far as the western edge of India, while to the west it reached Thrace, the eastern edge of Europe. Unlike their imperial predecessors, the Persian kings won their subjects' loyalty with tolerance and religious freedom, although they treated rebels harshly" ("Expansion of the Persian Empire, c. 550-490 B.C.E." [Map.]). c. 1000 BCE

Question: Which modern-day country was previously known as Mesopotamia?
Answer: Iraq